A Call for Help on Amazon

Whether because they have shifted (hopefully temporarily) their algorithms on site related to search, or because of some sort of direct suppression of my content in the same, my paperback sales on Amazon collapsed on the 10th of January, with an over 50% reduction in total output. Digital sales have not seemingly been affected. This indicates a high chance of the former; Amazon has altered its algorithms for some search terms and some of my works have been buried beneath competitors which are more expensive, as Amazon prioritizes cash flow.

Sometimes you will have random days where sales drop precipitously, but never for three days running. Something is afoot. When things are afoot I don't get upset, I look for solutions.

Since Amazons algorithms are in part based on the ratings and reviews present on works, at this time, I ask everyone who has purchased any of my works to leave an honest rating and if possible a short review of the work. Kindly note (I'm talking to you, KDP staff!) I am not asking for fake reviews or for anyone to game the system; only those who have actually purchased my works, to take a few minutes to help out an entirely independent creator who has released over 260 distinct works on Amazon thus far.

To be clear this hurdle will not stop me from continuing the work of releasing more books- but it might cause me to look into additional literary avenues. As always, a main-line tech firms' own decisions hazard the loyalty of its creator base; Amazon has always had my support in part because it was so irreplaceable- but as we all know, profitability is a big basis for that determination. For me, even more, it is a spiritual quest to protect and expand occult knowledge.

Final Update of the 2010s!

For the tldr crowd just watch the video!

It's almost the end of the year and of the 2010s ("good riddance" many will say!) so it's time for the last general update!

When I first began my foray into literature it was the middle of the 2010s and I had little idea what I was doing. Spurred on partly by necessity and partly by mere interest, I decided to take advantage of publishing on-demand services and release a few basic works to the world. Now, as I look back, I see how wise it was even though I was discouraged from this move by part of my audience and even some people in my private life.

Since the first of January, 2018 (KDP doesn't allow me to go back further to see 2016 or 17 sales sadly) I have sold over 68,000 paperback copies of my work. I didn't bother to check KDP sales since ebook versions are not available for half of my works and the per-copy income is somewhat lower. It's still in the many thousands, but not nearly as high as paperback sales. I always like to be able to put a book on the shelf, literally speaking; I don't own a kindle reader or a tablet of any kind. Too much eye strain. The only digital books I work with are scans of original documents.

As of writing this the best seller is the Book of Forbidden Knowledge (which you can purchase here.) The best selling work of my own manufacture is Occult Memetics, available here.

Over the next decade I plan to more than double the books I have available while also writing some more; I have some ideas for a vaguely humorous, steampunk-adjacent sword and sorcery series and I want to release Morbid Stories II and the next edition or two of SIH. The work load is enormous. I constantly have a half dozen works half completed. I wouldn't be surprised to hit 600 editions by 2030 assuming that POD is still around and so is Amazon. Since Bezos is the only Silicon Valley billionaire not destroying his own empire by censoring everything I feel "reasonably confident" sticking with their services.

This massive expansion of work attends a redoubling of effort with regards to video; I got a (much) better webcam I'll be hooking up in mere days and I plan to begin streaming again, possibly as an audio podcast.

Onward to the twenties!